Blinding Light
by Jjones19
Summary: Instead of being quirkless, Izuku does develop his quirk. However, being able to manipulate light seems useless to him, and to everyone around him. A fateful encounter with the number one hero changes everything for Izuku, who realizes his quirk might not be as useless as it seems. Fem!Bakugou, Quirk!Izuku (Rated M for violence, language and suggestive content)


**I'm going to get this out of the way before I say anything else, **

**THIS IS **_**NOT**_ **A GAY FIC. I REPEAT, THIS. IS. NOT. GAY! **

**Not to say that I don't support the lgbtq community, but if the description didn't make it clear, Bakugou is a girl. **

**I know it sounds weird at first and believe me I thought it was weird too. That was until I read Metallurgy by BeeeTeee. I'm drawing a little bit from BeeeTeee's concept of Katsuki being mean because she doesn't want Izuku to be a hero and get hurt, so credit where credit is due. I really like the direction they took the plot in though, and I feel like there is a lot that can be done in a romantic subplot between a female Bakugou and Izuku. However, I'm going to keep the name Katsuki since it is a unisex name in Japan, and my instinct would make me keep writing Katsuki anyway. **

**Also just a note, I glazed over some dialogue from canon since I didn't really feel like it needed to be repeated. Everyone reading has probably heard it multiple times before, so there is no need for me to write EVERY line.**

**This is really only my second attempt at writing, so I can't promise anything great. I've never been too great with grammar, but it will definitely be readable I can assure that much. Constructive criticism on my writing is appreciated though!**

**Anyway I'll stop rambling and end the author's note, hopefully you enjoy!**

* * *

"S-stop it Kacchan… I-I won't let you hurt him!" Yelled young Izuku Midoriya. He had tears in his eyes, and stood in front of the injured boy with his arms spread wide. Despite the tears, he had a determined look in his eyes. A determination to protect, a determination to save.

3 other young children stood across from Izuku. One boy was overweight and had wings protruding from his back, the other was skinny, and had long fingers that twisted out in front of him. The third was Katsuki Bakugou, her fiery temper evident in her facial expression.

However, she looked at Izuku with something more than anger, which was unlike the blonde even at this age. Her expression changed to one of pity and concern before she spoke.

"Deku… move… now... " she choked out, as she gritted her teeth.

"N-no Kacchan!" He stuttered, "It's not what a hero would do!"

Katsuki's expression quickly turned back to anger. As much as she hated to admit it, the useless nerd was her friend, her only _real _friend. Those extras behind her weren't even good enough to be her sidekick. Katsuki and Izuku had always planned to become heroes; in her mind she was number one, and Izuku was right by her side.

That was, until they turned four.

Four years old was the age where most kids developed their quirks. Sure late bloomers were a rare occurrence, but quirks almost never manifested past four and a half. Izuku was still, by all means, quirkless. This fact infuriated already quick tempered Katsuki, even more so when he claimed he still wanted to be a hero. Even though she was young, she knew being a hero was a dangerous job. You had to be strong like All Might if you didn't want to get hurt, and if Izuku was really quirkless he would stand no chance against real villains.

She hated that he couldn't be her sidekick anymore, but she didn't want her friend to get hurt, no matter what it meant.

Katsuki snapped back to reality and stared Izuku down. Sparks popped in her palms as she clenched her teeth.

"Well you won't be a hero _Deku_, not without a quirk. You _can't_ be a hero without a quirk," she spat.

"Y-you don't know that Kacchan, my quirk might appear soon," Izuku exclaimed, "and then we can be heroes together!"

"I can't take that chance…" Katsuki muttered under her breath as she looked down at the floor.

"What?" Izuku asked

As much as Katsuki hated herself for what she was about to do, she told herself it was for the best. She just wanted Izuku to be safe, and if it meant she had to be the bad guy, then that was the way it was.

"I SAID YOU'LL NEVER BE A HERO, NERD!" she screamed as the popping in her palms became louder and more violent.

The last thing Izuku remembered was the blonde girl flying at him with her arm outstretched, and then a loud noise. After that he just remembered waking up on the ground, scorch marks littering his skin.

He heard them walking away. The overweight kid with the wings turned to Katsuki and said, "Wow Kacchan your quirk is amazing!"

Katsuki stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around and grabbed tubby by the collar.

"_**You**_ can't call me that." She said coldly.

Although battered and bruised by her, Izuku couldn't help but think, "_I knew she cared…"_

* * *

"Izuku honey, what happened at the park? Were Katsuki and her friends being mean to you?" Inko Midoriya questioned innocently.

She was an almost sickeningly sweet woman, nice to a fault. On top of being a genuinely pleasant person, she cared for her son more than anyone could imagine. She worried for him, especially since his quirk hadn't manifested yet. If he was quirkless what would she do? Crush his dreams? It made her heart ache to even think of her baby having to go through that, yet every day it became more and more likely.

Inko knew that the other kids at school had begun to pick on Izuku, thinking he was quirkless. It was a fact of society that quirkless people were bullied and ostracized. She knew her shy, kind hearted son would be a target for bullies, so when he came home from the playground with marks all over, she had every right to be concerned.

"No Mommy, I'm fine. I just fell down when we were playing tag." Izuku then smiled, "Can we have video time now?"

Her motherly instincts told her that he was lying, but that could wait for later. She didn't have the heart to deny her baby boy his favorite part of the day.

"Alright honey let's head over to the computer" Inko said sweetly

Izuku jumped off the couch in his All Might onesie, and ran towards the computer all the while attempting his best impression of All Might's laugh.

By the time she had caught up to him he was already in the computer chair, rocking back in forth in excitement.

The precious sight of her son so happy never got old to Inko. Izuku wanted to do nothing but watch All Might, and Inko wanted nothing but to see him happy. She pressed play on the video, but the light from the window was making it difficult to see the screen.

"Mommy I can't see All Might! The sun is blocking it!" Izuku whined to his mother.

Inko frantically tried to pull the blinds down, but in her haste the strings got stuck. Her incessant pulling caused them to tangle even further, until there was no chance of getting them down.

Her scrambling was stopped when the sunlight seemed to be _pushed_ to the other end of the room, away from the computer screen.

"I-Izuku? Did you do that?" Inko asked as she stared at her son in disbelief.

The sunlight then began to move throughout the room, and followed wherever Izuku was looking. Almost bending from its source at the window. It looked as if it was being reflected by some force, the angle changing based on where Izuku wanted it to go.

Izuku beamed at Inko as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"I finally got my quirk Mommy!"

* * *

The gray office seemed to match the personality of the doctor himself. The atmosphere almost exuded boredom and monotony. The doctor sat in his chair, large mustache and oversized goggles shaking as he sat.

"Well kid, you got a quirk, and a pretty unique one from what we've tested." He spoke as monotone as humanly possible. Both Izuku and Inko wondered if that was his quirk.

"Well what is it called?" Inko asked, seeming far too concerned for such a happy occasion.

"The name is up to the you and the kid, but it seems to be some sort of light refraction and reflection quirk. Izuku's body releases an odorless, colorless, gaseous substance at extremely high speeds from his body. It is extremely light and can't be detected without special instruments, so no worries it won't look like you farted."

The doctor's attempt at humor fell flat. He coughed as he continued, "The substance has extremely interesting properties when it comes into contact with photons though. It seems that Izuku can naturally redirect photons that come into contact with the substance. It also seems like his body has a natural resistance to damage from high exposure to photons, so no skin cancer!."

Once again, nobody was laughing. The doctor cleared his throat again. "On an unrelated note, his quirk's substance also has a freezing point at as close to absolute zero as we can manage currently. It also seems to progress straight from a gas to a solid, which is quite peculiar."

The doctor looked up after his explanation to see Inko with her hands on her knees, sweat dripping down her forehead. She almost looked like she was waiting for something to go wrong. Izuku, on the other hand, was scribbling something down in a notebook.

Even though Izuku had no clue what a photon or absolute zero was, he wrote down everything the doctor said. Even though his brain was already analyzing potential uses for his quirk, he still had an important question burning in the back of his mind.

"U-uh, M-Mr. Doctor, do you think I can be a hero with my quirk?" Izuku said shyly.

"I'm gonna be real with you kid," The doctor started, "I see hundreds and hundreds of scientific and practical uses for your quirk, it's quite a remarkable quirk actually. However, when it comes to combat uses, I just don't see how you can use it without having enough time to give someone a sunburn. I'm sorry kid, but maybe you should look in to other careers, there are plenty of respectable professions out there."

Izuku looked lost. Yet another person had told him he couldn't be a hero. He almost felt like he should give up, but he knew he couldn't. He'd never be able to save people like All Might does if he gave up that easily. He got his quirk, he just needed to learn how to use it right.

Despite Izuku's internal positivity, his facial expression showed the opposite, as hot tears began to roll down his cheeks.

Inko, refusing to have her son humiliated by some quack, stood up and grabbed Izuku's hand. She started heading towards the exit of the office, but first turned and gave the doctor a look only an angry mother could give.

"Thank you for your help doctor, have a _**wonderful**_ day!"

The menacing undertones were not lost on the doctor, and he let out a sigh of relief as soon as she was out of the door.

"_People these days…"_ he thought as he shook his head.

* * *

**10 YEARS LATER**

Izuku sat at his desk, not really paying attention to what the teacher was saying. He was busy thinking about what he could do with his quirk. It had been 10 years since it first manifested. Even though the doctor told him he shouldn't be a hero, he never stopped trying to experiment and practice his quirk.

And he had accomplished almost nothing.

It's not that he didn't try, or that he gave up, he was just having difficulty… to say the least.

Difficulty wasn't even the best way to describe the hell Izuku endured while trying to improve his quirk. His light was essentially harmless, the worst he could do to anyone was make them sweat.

The only extra ability he was ever able to discover is that open wounds healed faster in direct light, especially sunlight. He'd tried to take this ability further, but it seemed it was only passive and worked with smaller wounds. Anything bigger than a papercut still took a long time to heal.

At one point he even tried intense exercise to see if his quirk was linked to his physical fitness. Besides obtaining a decent physique, he had no luck in relation to his quirk.

Izuku snapped out of his thoughts, as the teacher began to speak in front of the class.

"So class, now that you're in 8th grade, it's about time to start thinking about your future," The teacher paused, "Aw who am I kidding you guys all want to join a hero course!"

As soon as the teacher said that, the students in the class all activated their quirks. One boy was pulling his eyeballs about 2 feet out of his head, another had rocks for arms and began banging on the desk. Izuku cringed as he heard the sound of snapping wood.

The commotion was stopped by a small explosion that echoed throughout the classroom. Katsuki Bakugou stood up on her desk, proud look on her face and said, "None of you extras can even compare to me. I'm gonna make it into UA and become number one, I'll be even stronger than All Might himself!"

Izuku looked down at his desk along with all the other boys in the class.

"_Ah come on Kacchan why do you have to be like that?_" he thought to himself.

Izuku was looking down partly because he was nervous around his former friend, but also because it was common practice for all the boys in the class.

Katsuki, after years of exercise and quirk training, had become, to say the least, attractive. Even Izuku couldn't deny that she was good looking, and the rest of the class was no different. Everyone would want to catch a peek at a hot blonde, that is if they weren't afraid of getting blown up.

She was fairly short, not particularly busty, but not flat by any means either. She had an athletic build, strong legs and a toned body, and she was definitely not lacking in curves. Katsuki's trademark spiky hair was always tied back into a ponytail as well. Izuku would tell her that she should try fitness modeling, but he liked being alive too much to try.

After the class quieted down the teacher spoke again, "Yes yes Bakugou, I'm sure you'll make it when you apply to UA. Speaking of UA, aren't you applying as well Midoriya?"

Izuku froze and looked up. As soon as hid did Katsuki slammed her palm down on his desk. He couldn't speak.

"Deku? You think you're gonna get into UA with that shitty quirk of yours? Don't even bother trying, or you'll regret it…" Her voice became less angry at the last comment. To Izuku she almost seemed forlorn, but he didn't know why.

Despite her previous mood change, she snapped back to her anger quickly. She grunted and locked her red eyes with Izuku's green.

"Just give up! You're fucking useless Deku"

A shiver went down his spine as she turned around and walked back to her seat. The bell rang and the other students began to file out of the class, Izuku just sat still.

"_Man that was mean… There's no harm in me trying to get in to UA. I don't know why she feels the need to pick on me like that. I never did anything to her, but I guess she's just amazing and I'm not._" Izuku thought to himself.

He opened up his 'Hero Analysis for the Future No.13' notebook and flipped to Katsuki's page. He had a page for her in most of his notebooks, mostly because he knew so much about her personality and quirk.

"Man she's really awesome…" he said out loud, since he thought nobody else was in the class. Little did he know that Katsuki was still waiting behind the door.

After she heard him say that, she wanted to go in there and blow up the stupid nerd's notebook, but she didn't. She decided to walk away instead, mostly because of the tiny smirk she couldn't get rid of.

* * *

Back outside of the school, Izuku was beginning to walk home. He knew that he would go home and try to practice with his quirk again, but he questioned why he was even doing it at all.

"_I feel like it's almost pointless now, I have an awful quirk, I'll never be like All Might."_

Izuku shook his head, he steeled himself, "_If I start thinking like that I'll never become a hero! I'm gonna go home, work out, and then keep practicing because if I don't, who else is going to save people with a smile!_" He thought.

"HA HA HA HA" Izuku bellowed as he walked further into the small tunnel, "HA HA HA!" He continued until another voice made him stop dead in his tracks.

"What's so funny kid?" The voice behind him said with a sickening gurgle. What Izuku saw when he turned around was an almost 9 foot tall creature made of thick, green sludge. The villain's crazed eyes made Izuku realize that the talking sludge wasn't just an ordinary bystander.

Izuku rolled to the side to try to avoid the attack he assumed was coming, but a tendril of sludge caught on to his arm. He tried to pull away but the villain began to pull him closer to the largest mass of sludge. It was dark under the tunnel, so he couldn't even try to use his quirk to redirect light into the villains eye and blind him.

He was by no means weak, but he wasn't strong enough to resist a villain with a quirk this powerful. He was pulled in close, and the villain began to enter his body through his nose and mouth.

"You're gonna make a great skinsuit kid! When I kill you and take over your body, those heroes won't know where to find me!" The villain gurgled with a chuckle.

Izuku tried to resist, but the lack of oxygen made his lungs burn and his muscles fail.

Tears formed under Izuku's eyes as he prepared to die. He thought, "_So this is it huh? Kacchan was right the whole time. I was never strong enough to be a hero. I'm just kidding myself thinking that I can make it into the UA hero course, let alone any hero course at all. Well, that doesn't matter now I guess, since I'm going to die here anyway."_

His vision began to darken, but before he went unconscious, he saw a huge man slam down onto the ground outside of the tunnel. The earth seemed to shake with his landing.

The man stood up proud and said, "**Have no fear citizen… FOR I AM HERE!**"

"_Is that… All Might ...?_" He thought, right before he passed out.

"**Hey, kid**" All Might questioned, "**hey, hey, wake up.**"

Izuku felt an enormous hand lightly tapping on the side of his face when he started to come to his senses. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was greeted with the smiling face of All Might.

"**Thought we'd lost you there!**" All Might bellowed.

He looked towards Izuku only to see him scramble back on the floor and begin muttering.

"Oh my god it's All Might it's actually him oh my god I can't believe that I just got saved by All Might I hope I didn't waste his time but wait I'm alive in the first place that's crazy i really owe him so much I should ask him to sign my notebook by the way my name is Izuku Midoriya and I would-" Izuku stopped his muttering to grab his notebook before he continued, "He already signed it! Oh my god today is a great day All Might you are my favorite hero ever I'm so sorry for causing any trouble I have so much to ask you is the villain gone did you capture him and was that a texas smash you did before I passed out.."

Izuku kept muttering while All Might attempted to process what the green haired boy was trying to say. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead; he wondered how somebody could release this much word vomit in such a short amount of time.

"**Well young man, I must be going. I have to get this evildoer to the authorities!**" He said with a boisterous laugh, and flashed his trademark smile.

Izuku's heart sank. He had forgotten to ask All Might what he had wanted to ask him his whole life. And here Izuku was, saying nothing and letting All Might leave. He needed his answer, so he made the decision to jump.

All Might squatted down and pushed off into a powerful jump. However, he felt heavier than usual. He soon found out that was because of Izuku hanging from his leg.

"**Young man let go! I love my fans but this is too much!**"

"If I let go I'll die!" Izuku screamed

"**Oh, good point.**"

They landed on top of a building and an extremely shaken Izuku clammered off of All Might's massive leg. His legs eventually stopped wobbling. Now was his time to ask.

"All Might, before I leave. I have to ask you a question. My whole life, people have told me that my quirk is useless. All I can do is manipulate light to change direction," Izuku casually created a rainbow above the door on the roof with a wave of his hand.

All Might looked at the small rainbow Izuku created. It was beautiful, but Toshinori Yagi had more important things to worry about. He was out of time.

Izuku looked down and continued talking, unaware of the smoke surrounding the man he was speaking to, "It's cool for tricks and all, but my whole life I have worked to try to find a use for it, and I haven't found anything. I know it has potential, but I'm starting to lose hope. What I wanted to ask was… Even with a useless quirk, can I ever hope to be a great hero like you!" He yelled as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Expecting a response, he looked over to where All Might was supposed to be, but saw what he thought was a living skeleton in his place.

"WHAT? WHERE'S ALL MIGHT?" He exclaimed as he frantically turned his head back and forth, looking for the number one hero.

"Kid, I am All Might," the skeletal man said calmly.

"What? How?"

All Might pulled up his now baggy t-shirt to reveal a large purple wound. The skin was twisted and stitched together, it almost looked like he was broken apart and put back together.

"Pretty nasty right?" All Might sighed, "I got it about 5 years ago, after a fight with a dangerous villain. I beat him, but it came with a cost."

"Was it the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?" Izuku asked.

"Wow kid, you really know your stuff. But no, the public doesn't know about this villain. It was kept under wraps, so don't go talking about it online. But ever since then I've only been able to do hero work for 3 hours a day before I end up in this form."

"But then how.." Izuku stuttered

"You know how guys at the pool are always sucking in and trying to look buff?," he said, "that's me."

All Might continued, "But to answer your question, no, with a quirk that has no practical combat potential, you can't be a hero."

Izuku's throat closed up as he thought, "_All Might too?_"

"Without a practical quirk, you'll be putting people in danger rather than saving them," All Might began to walk towards the door. He turned around, "If you really want to help people, try being a policeman. They don't get much credit, but it's a fine profession. It's good to have dreams kid, just make sure they're attainable."

And with that, he left.

Izuku was left in a daze. He was in shock. If All Might didn't believe he could become a hero, who would?

It seemed like forever before Izuku snapped back to reality. He was broken out of his stupor by a large explosion. Normally he would go and investigate to see if any heroes were on the scene, but this time he decided he didn't want to go. He didn't see the point, nobody, not even his idol, believed in him. So why should he?

Izuku put his head down and walked down the stairs to the bottom of the building. He wandered aimlessly until he ended up near a crowd of people.

"_Did I just subconsciously walk over here?_" He thought as he tried to peak over the heads of the people around him. Since he was already here, he thought he'd might as well watch.

Although, as Izuku soon found out, this wasn't just your average villain attack.

He finally maneuvered his way through some people, and what he saw made him sick. He was dizzy and his mind began to race. It was that sludge villain that had attacked him earlier, and it had someone captured. The one he thought All Might had captured.

How was he back? He clearly remembered All Might capturing the villain. That was until, he was on the roof and found out about All Might's secret. That only meant….

"_It's all my fault!_" he thought, "_If I hadn't grabbed on to All Might's leg like I did, he wouldn't have dropped the villain, and whoever was captured would be safe! None of the heroes here have the quirks to stop this monster, and whoever he has caught is making everything…"_

"Explode…" he whispered.

**(Play: You Say Run- My Hero Academia OST)**

Izuku's thoughts were now racing frantically, "_Even if it is her, one of the heroes will save her right? Even if All Might can't power up again because of me, she'll be safe right? It probably isn't her anyway, it probably isn't…"_

That's when he saw it, a ponytail of spiky blonde hair sticking out from inside the pile of green sludge. Katsuki opened her eyes and Izuku saw something he had never seen before in her eyes.

Fear.

Before he knew it Izuku pushed through the crowd and began running towards the villain.

"Save the boy!" The pro hero Death Arms Yelled as he looked frantically at the other heroes. "That thing will kill him!"

"_What am I doing, why am I running? Why won't my legs stop moving?_" Izuku asked himself in a moment of panic. Every second his legs pumped, and the ash filled air entered his lungs, he was approaching closer to the villain.

He didn't know what to do, but then he noticed the bright glow of the fire around him.

"_Light! That's it!"_ He said as he remembered what the doctor had told him years ago.

His quirk may not be good for much, but he could sure as hell momentarily blind someone.

"Ah you again! I won't let you survive this time, brat!" The sludge villain roared. A long appendage of sludge began to form on the side of his main mass with a sickening slurp.

As he continued to run, stride by stride, time seemed to slow down around him. He concentrated on releasing his quirk into the whole area around the villain. The glow of the fire seemed to ignite a spark in his head. He felt like he was able to see every particle of light emanating from the massive flames around him. He was in control of them, and with that control he directed them towards the villain.

A wave of heat passed by Izuku's head and he knew what to do. He slid down on the ground to avoid the massive fist of sludge that was about to hit him. He tumbled over and managed to stick his hand out at the monster.

"Flash-Bang!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, as white, hot light flashed in the villain's face.

The sludge villain recoiled back and let out a hiss. This temporary blindness caused him to lose control of Katsuki for a moment, which gave her the chance to breathe. The first thing she noticed was Izuku frantically clawing at the sludge entrapping her.

"Deku, what are you doing here! You're gonna get your dumb ass killed!" Katsuki snapped.

Izuku looked up at her and said with utmost sincerity, "Kacchan, I couldn't just stand there and watch you die!"

Unfortunately for Izuku, his flashbang trick didn't blind the villain for very long. His attempted rescue was halted when his hand was sucked in by the villain. He tried to use all the strength he had to break free, but to no avail. He was trapped.

"DIE!" The sludge villain gurgled as he swung a massive arm of sludge at Izuku and Katsuki.

A massive cloud of dust was knocked up into the air on impact. As it cleared, both Izuku and Katsuki wondered how they were alive.

A tuft of blonde hair stuck up from the dust as a deep voice bellowed, "**I really am pathetic, aren't I?**"

Izuku looked on in wonder, as All Might was holding back the huge sludge appendage with one arm. All Might continued, "**I tried to tell you what made a good hero, but I realized that I wasn't living up to my own ideals!**"

He launched part of the villain's body away with a swipe of his arm, and thrust his other arm into the main part of the villain's body, to grab Izuku and Katsuki.

"**You reminded me that a real hero puts everything on the line to fight for justice!**" All Might said, blood spewing out of his mouth.

He cocked his arm back, and the villain knew what came next. Accepting the inevitable he cried out, "CURSE YOU ALL MIGHT!"

"**DETROIT… SMASH!**"

All Might's voiced echoed, as the sheer wind force of his punch scattered the villain into a million pieces. Katsuki and Izuku flapped around like ragdolls, but were kept from flying away due to All Might's iron grip.

**(Stop Music)**

Clouds began to swirl around the dissipating tornado, and rain drops began to fall; slowly at first, but eventually became a steady rainfall. All Might stood in the deluge, upright and with a smile, a true symbol of peace.

"He changed the weather with just his punch!" A bystander yelled out. Following this comment, the crowd went wild.

Reporters poured in past the heroes that were standing guard, and surrounded the number one hero. Every one of them trying to get the first word from him after his stunning victory.

Izuku, more than anything, felt guilty. This whole situation was his fault. He forced All Might to use up too much of his power, and most of all, he was the reason Katsuki got caught. He was too ashamed to even look her in the eyes, even though she didn't know that he was the reason All Might dropped the villain.

He tried to get closer to All Might to apologize, but there were too many reporters.

Feeling defeated and guilt ridden, Izuku's brain coasted through the next hour. He remembered heroes telling him how he was a fool to dive in, and that he wasn't strong enough. It was everything he had been told his whole life, bye everyone he had ever met. It didn't matter to Izuku anymore regardless, even All Might told him he couldn't be a hero.

The sun began to sink past the horizon, and a mentally and physically exhausted Izuku trudged home. Every step made his legs feel like lead. He had never thought about being anything else but a hero, so what would he do now?

"Oi, Deku!" A loud voice called out from behind him.

He turned around slowly, "Kacchan?"

Katsuki slowly walked up to Izuku. She put her head down and clenched her teeth before she was able to speak.

"Listen, back there was nothing, okay? You're lucky All Might was there to save you or your ass would have been dead. I had it under control okay!" She was beginning to feel emotional, but she would never let Deku know that. She couldn't.

Katsuki continued, "When are you going to learn that if you keep trying to save people, you're gonna fucking die? You're too useless to do anything, you didn't help me or All Might, you just made everything worse by getting in the way. You aren't strong enough Deku, so just fucking give up while you still can."

"I know… " he whispered back, almost inaudibly.

Katsuki was surprised. She was expecting some positive remark on how trying wouldn't hurt, but nothing this time. Had she finally broken him? Did he finally give up? She had been trying to get him to do this for 10 years, but all of a sudden it felt… wrong.

Seeing Izuku so depressed bothered Katsuki. Had she gone too far? Even if she did, her pride would never let her admit it.

He was still standing there, she had to say something.

"Just, keep out of my way alright?" Katsuki said coolly as she turned around and started to walk away from him

Everything about what she had done seemed wrong. Which was unusual, since in her mind she was never wrong. She couldn't cave in now. She convinced herself that it was for Izuku's own good, and she couldn't let a stupid feeling get in the way of that.

Izuku watched Katsuki walk away and thought, "_Kacchan I already knew that, I gave up… it's over._"

For the second time in the last two minutes, Izuku heard a voice behind him, except this time it was loud, and sounded suspiciously like…

"**I AM HERE!**"

"All Might?" Izuku yelped as the behemoth of a man dashed out from the alleyway. "How did you get away from those reporters?"

"**Ha ha ha young man, the symbol of peace lives for justice. Not sound bite-**" He was cut off by blood shooting out of his mouth, as he deflated into his skeletal form.

Izuku screamed. He would never get used to that.

"Listen All Might, I'm so sorr-"

"Stop right there young man, I have to tell you something first." All Might interjected.

Izuku looked up attentively.

**(Play: You Can Become a Hero- My Hero Academia OST)**

"When we first met, you told me you had a useless power, and I gave you a nearsighted answer. Since my injury I've been wary about not being strong enough, and I apologize for that. No quirk is useless, it's about who is using the quirk. A true hero is someone who puts their life on the line to help those in need, and that's what you did."

Izuku remembered what everyone had always told him. That his quirk was weak, that he was useless, that he couldn't be a hero. And yet, here was the greatest hero, telling him that he had misjudged him, that he displayed true heroism. It was too much for Izuku to bear and he dropped to his knees.

All Might continued, "Every great hero has their origin story, and most of them start with their legs moving without them thinking, almost on their own."

Izuku struggled for breath, he began to get choked up and tears fell down his face. He looked up at the man in front of him, the late evening wind blowing cherry blossoms through the air.

What he said next, Izuku would never forget.

"Young man, you too can become a hero."

It was the first time anybody had told him yes, everyone had always told him no, even his mother. Yet, the man he admired most believed in him. He wouldn't let him down.

All Might then spread his arms wide and announced, "I deem you worthy of inheriting my power."

**(Stop Music)**

Izuku's tears stopped, due to confusion on what All Might had just said.

"I know, you're probably confused, but my power is something special. It is a power that has been passed on and cultivated for generations. It's called One For All." All Might explained to a wonderstruck Izuku.

"One.. For.. All…" Izuku subconsciously repeated.

"Every user of this power has made it stronger, until it made its way to me. Young Midoriya, I deem you worthy of inheriting this great power, and becoming the next symbol of peace."

Instead of the response All Might imagined, Izuku began to mumble, while still crying.

"I mean there are so many types of quirks but there has never been any documented case of any quirk that can be passed on to another person that's crazy talk and also All Might why did you pick me I get what you said but could I even inherit such a power and what does it do because nobody really knows what your quirk does I mean there have been guesses as to what it does but nobody would ever guess that since nobody has ever heard of that I'm so-"

All Might mustered up enough energy to buff up again before he stopped Izuku's mumbling.

"**Ha ha ha, young man, you are going to have to stop crying and doing… whatever word vomit you just did if you want to be my successor, or if you want in to UA,**" All Might chuckled.

"Right, right." Izuku agreed as he wiped the tears off his face.

"**However, I will not force this upon you. One For All is dangerous to an unprepared body. Even though you seem fit, you will need to train harder than you ever have before, for One For All, as well as for UA. Are you up to the challenge?**"

Izuku stood up from the ground and straightened his posture. He had the opportunity of a lifetime, he couldn't let All Might down.

"I'll do it," He announced. Izuku would do whatever it took, if it meant he had a chance to save people like All Might and go to UA.

"**That's the spirit Young Midoriya! Oh… but there is one more thing**" All Might went pale, as if he was thinking of something frightening.

This sudden mood change put Izuku on edge. What could scare All Might?

All Might elaborated "**You see, when I saw you use your quirk, I remembered something about another young man I know about. To most, his quirk would seem useless, almost defective. However, his ingenious use of his quirk has made him one of the top hero candidates at UA.**"

"So what does this have to do with me?" Izuku questioned.

"**I think you may be able to do more with your quirk than you think, you just need to start thinking outside of the box.**"

"But I've tried that," Izuku said, "I haven't found anything. Are you gonna teach me how to find new ways?"

All Might turned even more pale, "**As much as I want to, I'm not the best teacher, but I know someone that can help you, he knows about One For All too. H-he a-actually t-trained me when I was young.**"

Izuku was beginning to freak out. How scary was this guy?

"All Might, why are you shaking?"

The massive man's knees were shaking so much he was almost vibrating. He finally choked out, "**H-he's a great teacher… just, t-tough is all.**"

From what Izuku could imagine, this was going to be a tough few months.


End file.
